Mechanical device for displaying advertisements.



No. 890,147. PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908.

E. M. LOW.

MECHANICAL DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING ADVERTISEMENTS.

L '1 1) OCT. 4.1902 APP ION FILE 2 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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P/Q/QES WITNESSES: //v VENTOH rm: Mamas PETERS ca WASHINGTON, n. c.

PATENTED JUNE 9; 1908..

3. M. LOW. MECHANICAL DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING ADVERTISEMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT-24.102.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

W/TNESSES v INVENTOI? m 1 THE mmms PETERS ca. WASHINGTON. n. c.

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UNITED srarns r grnnr ri G EVERETT M. LOW, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MECHANICAL DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING ADVERTISEMENTS.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EVERETT M. Low, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful h Iechanical Device for Displaying Advertisements, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a mechanical device for advertising, whereby a plurality of advertisements or signs printed or otherwise produced upon a web or strip of paper or equivalent material can be auto matically and intermittently shifted thereby displaying each advertisement or sign successively until all are shown. The web or strip moves intermittently at periods of time determined by the construction of the mechanism, thus displaying an advertisement or sign for a predetermined time after which the web or strip is moved a sufficient distance to bring another advertisement or sign into view after all the advertisements or signs printed upon the web or strip, or as many of them as are designed to be shown, have been displayed successively, each for a certain period of time, the mechanism automatically reverses the motion of the web or strip thus displaying the advertisements or signs in their reverse order. The advertisements or signs are displayed one after the other, each for a certain period of time, which in practice I would prefer to have from fiveto fifteen minutes, first in regular order, andthen in reverse order, as long as the mech-- I attain these objects by the mechanism which is hereinafter fully described and the nature thereof set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like figures refer to like parts :F1gure 1 1s afront elevation of the device showing one of the advertisements on the web a. Fig. 2 is a front elevation with the front casing removed and a portion of the web broken away in order to expose the mechanism. In Fig. 2 I have shown a portion of the advertisement shown in Fig. 1 the, other portion being on that part.

of the web which is broken away, and I have also shown a portion of the advertisement upon the next adjacent section of the web which in Fig. 1 is covered by the front casing. Fig. 3 is a view of the ratchet wheels detached and shown in transposed. positions in order to show their construction more clearly. Fig. A. isa detached view of the Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed October 24, 1902.

Patented June 9, 1908.

Serial No. 128,630.

driving gear. Fig. 5 is a view of the same mechanism shown in Fig. 4 looking in direction of arrow 1, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view on line cca:-, looking in direction of arrow 2 Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is an enlarged end elevation looking in direction of arrow 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is an enlarged side elevation of the actuating mechanism shown in end elevation in Fig. 6 and also in side elevation in Fig. 2. Fig. 9 1s a plan view of the reversing gears shown in elevation in Figs. 6 and 8.

In the accompanying drawings, a is the web or strip preferably of paper having printed thereon two or more advertisements or signs and having its edges perforated as shown at 0 and 0 Fig. 2.

a and a are the portions of the web a on which are delineated two adjacent advertisements.

The actuating roll 11 has on each end teeth or pins designed to engage in the perforations in web a to give it a positive movement. The guide roller 1) turns freely in its bearings and serves to guide and support the web a which passes over 1t.

The roller 0 is hollow and has a spring 0 inside of it, similar toan ordinary shade roller and which serves a similar purpose; the stud c is secured in its support by the screw 0 the roller 0 turning freely on its stud c and the other end of roller being supported by and turning freely in its bearings. The roller al is similar to c and differs fromit only inhavingits spring d? wound in a direction and exertmg a tors onal force oppos te to the spring 0 in rollerct. Theobject of roller 0 is to wind up the web a,as it is moved in one di rection by the action of the roll I and there by unwoundfrom roller d and when the mo tionisrever'sedand the web a isunwou nd from the roller 0 by the action roll b the web a is wound up by roller (1. The winding rollers c and d are actuated by their springs 0 and d respectively, each in such a manner and such a direction as to wind and take up the slack ofthe web a, or allow the webto be unwound as it'is movedfirst in one direction and then in the other under the action of the actuating roll 6 and itsldriving mechanism, One end of web a IS fELS DGIH-Xl to roller c and the other end after passing over rolls 6 andb? is fastened to roller d in such a manner that when it is unwound from rollerc} it is wound on to roller-d as is shown in Flg. 7.

The electro magnet f is supported upon the rods w, t0 and 'w and f areits poles and f% and f are hinged bars which form the armacurrent from the plug f to the magnet f which is hinged to f by a pin f and connected to f by a pin f which moves in a slot in f which allows the movement of f and f 5 to and from the poles of the magnet f as the circuit is made or broken by mechanism to be described hereinafter. To the bar f is attached a cord f which passes over a pulley f and around a drum f which is a continuation of the hub of the pawl lever 9 An insulated plug f has connected toit awire f which conveys the current from a line wire or battery; f is an insulated plug having connected to it the wire f which conveys the f is the wire leading from the magnet to the battery or other source of the current to complete the circuit. The ratchet wheels 9 and k shown in Fig. 3 are of a construction well known to mechanics; g is of a larger diameter than h and has one tooth 9 cut deeper than the others so that the pawl g will engage the ratchet wheel 71, only once during each revolution of g so that if the ratchet wheels have twelve teeth, it will take twelve revolutions of g to make one revolution of h The pawl g which is shown in two parts and connected together by a pin 9 is secured to and actuated by the lever g which is moved in one direction by the cord f and magnet f the cord f exerting a torsional force on the drum f which is a part of the hub g of leverg extending through the plates 0 and w in which are the bearings and supports for the driving mechanism. The pawl lever g is moved in the reverse direction when the circuit is broken, by the spring 9 thereby moving the ratchet wheel 9 The retaining pawls and g serve to prevent reverse movement of the ratchet wheels 9 and h Secured to or forming a part of the ratchet wheel h is a cam 7L2 which actuates a roll 71 on a lever k which is a part of or secured to the shell or tube 7L5 which has a longitudinal motion on the shaft h, the shell if being prevented from turning by the stud 7L7 which passes through the lever h and on which it slides in its longitudinal movement as it is moved in one direction by the cam 72 and in the other direction by the spring h On shaft h is another shell h on which is a gear k which gear gives a rotary motion to shaft h through the shell h which has v a longitudinal motion on shaft h, it being moved in one direction by the shell 71, and in the .opposite direction by the spring h shown in Fig. 6. The rotary motion of gear 76 and shell k is transmitted to shaft h by pin h. Shaft h is connected to roll 6 to which it transmits its motion, said connection being formed by a square or flattened end on the journal of roll 6 which end enters a corresponding recess in the end of shaft h, or shaft h may be formed as an integral part of the ournal of roll 5 The gear 76 is given an intermittent motion to move the web a, a predetermined distance in order to expose the next advertisement which it is desired to show; the motion then ceases for a certain time determined by the arrangement of the mechanism, after which the gear 7(: the roll gear k is accomplished by the gears 76 k and 7c all of which are driven by the gear m The gears k and 76 are in mesh with gear m at all times, the gear 16 having awide face meshes with gear 7c which stands out of line with gear k as shown in Fig. 8. The gear k on shell it having a longitudinal movement on shaft h meshes with k or 764 as it is moved longitudinally, in one direction by the spring h or the other direction by the cam 7L2. When gear k is in mesh with gear k as shown in Fig. 8, the motion is in such direction'as to unwind the web a from roller (.1 and when gear 76 is in mesh with gear 76 which is an intermediate gear, the direction of the motion is reversed and the roll 17 is driven in a direction which unwinds the web a from the roller 0 The gears M, W, k and k derive their motion from the. gear m which derives its motive force from spring m which is secured to the shaft m at one end and at the other to the gear m by means of the plate 765. The shaft m is actuated by the ratchet wheel 9 which is secured to said shaft and the pawl arm 9 and the pawl 9 this movement winds the spring m which is the motive force of gear m The gear m is locked in position by the locking lever m shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, until the ratchet wheel 9 and shaft m have made one revolution, when the gear m is released by the locking lever being moved away from the stop m on gear m which stop is secured to or forms a part of gear m As the gear m is released it is rotated by the spring m the gear m making one revolution, when the locking lever is forced back into position by spring m, shown in Fig. 6, stopping gear m from further motion.

The arm m which is fast on the shaft m carries a roll m which acts on the cam m on locking lever m moving the locking lever away from the stop m which releases the gear m. The roll m is shown partly in dotted lines in Fig. 5, in the position it oc- I to shaft n is a circuit breaker t insulated for the locking lever to swing under the stop I m by the action of spring m thus checking further movement of gear m after it has completed one revolution. The arm m is fast on the shaft m as is also the ratchet wheel g and with each revolution of the ratchet wheel g the arm m makes one revolution and releases the gear on. As the gear 'm revolves under the action of the spring m it turns the gear a secured to the shaft Moving freely on shaft n is gear a to which is attached a spring a which is attached at its other end to a drum fast on shaft M; as the gear a and shaft n revolve, the spring a is wound, thus giving a motion to gear 01- and. thereby to gear a which is fast on shaft n. Secured to shaft 11. is an escapement wheel 8 which is controlled by an anchor s on shaft .9 and balance wheel 8 and hair spring 8 on shaft 8 all of which escapement mechanism is such as is used in common clocks and therefore well known. Secured from the shaft n; this circuit breaker is for the purpose of making and breaking the circuit that conveys the current to the electro magnet which works the pawl arm g; under the control of the escapement mechanism, every one half revolution of the shaft n brings the circuit breaker 15 into contact with the plugs f and f 14 completing the circuit and conveving the current to the magnet.

o and ii are the plates which form the casing for the actuating mechanism and in which are the bearings for the shafts The plates e and v are secured to each other by rods '1)", v '0, a) and v In Figs. 2 and 8 the rods 0 and c and the springs h and m which are held by the rod D5, are not shown, they being removed the better to show themechanism.;.

u i ot. and c iare iscrews which go through plates 7) and o into plate w thus binding the whole together; 11 also acts as a studlfor the retaining pawls g andpgf l w and are the end plates in which are the bearings of the rolls b and b the rollers c and (Z and the supporting rods for the electro magnet to, 10 and w The plates w and w are secured to each other by the tie rods 103, w and w The operation of my improved device for displaying advertisements is as follows:l have shown a form designed to be used in street and elevated railway cars and the necessary power may be taken from the line wire or preferably from batteries located at the end of the car or under the car seats.

The device may be adapted for use in store windows, in railway stations and other public places by a simple change of form and of motive power to adapt it to the intended use.

I have shown the device so constructed as to display siX different advertisements but by an obvious change in the ratchet mechanism it may be so constructed as to display twelve or any number within reasonable limits.

The web a, may have only the number of advertisements designed to be shown as siX in the above described mechanism or it may have twelve or eighteen. The rollers c and d may have eighteen advertisements on the web wound thereon, and in stead of changing the web for another when it is desired to i change the advertisements it could be shifted in its relative position to the roll operating mechanism so as to show a different series of advertisements, and those not designed to be shown would remain wound on to one or the other of the rollers c or d. I prefer this as it would facilitate printing and distributing the webs.

The mechanism is shown in the position it would occupy after the web had been moved to such a position as to bring into view one of the advertisements (1 the circuit breaker has made one half revolution, coming in contact with the plugs j and f 14 completing the circuit and exciting the electro magnet f; the bars f and f 5 which form the armature are drawn into contact with the poles of the magnet, the cordf exerts a torsional force on the drum f which draws back the pawl arm 9 in theposition shown in Fig. 6. As the circuit breaker continues to move under the action of the escapement mechanism which is driven by the gear "a and spring a the circuit is broken and the pawl arm 9 and pawl 9 under the action of the spring g moves the ratchet wheel 9 a distance corresponding to one tooth of the ratchet wheel. These movements are continual, the circuit being made and broken as the circuit breaker revolves, the pawl arm .being drawn back by the action of the magnet and forced forward by. the

action of its: spring, thus theratchet wheel is turned ,one tooth at a time, winding the spring. m and when the ratchet. wheel. 9. has made one revolution, the. arm. m? which is fast on the same shaft as the ratchet wheel 9 has also made one revolution and the roll m acting on cam m which is a part of locking lever m moves the locking lever m out from under the stop m on gear m; this allows the gear m under the tension of spring we to revolve one revolution, it being prevented from further motion by the locking lever swinging back into its former position by the action of spring m and locking under the stop on gear m. At each revolution of the ratchet wheel 9, the ratchet wheel h is moved a distance corresponding to one tooth, caused byratchet wheel h being smaller than 9 and 9 having one and only one tooth cut deep enough to allow the pawl 51 to engage with ratchet wheel 7%. The revolution of ratchet wheel h also causes the cam 7L2 to revolve and when ratchet wheel h and cam 7L2 have made one half of one revolution and all of the advertisements have been shown which it is designed to show, the high part of the cam 7&2 will have moved the roll is, lever h and shell 7L5, longitudinally on the shaft it, moving shell 7i and its gear is out of mesh with k and into mesh with 7c which drives 7c and with it the roll I) in the opposite direction thus again bringing to view in reverse order the advertisements previously shown. After another one half revolution of ratchet wheel 7L and cam 7L2 the gear 7c would be returned to the first described position in mesh with gear k and the advertisements would again be shown in regular order as before. The unwinding of spring m and the consequent motion of gear m turns the gear 71/ winding the spring n which must be of much less tension than m but suiiicient to drive the gear n and the connected escapement mechanism. The escapement mechanism which is of a form well known being necessary to regulate the movement of the circuit breaker t.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of the web a, the driving roll I), gearing for actuating said roll, the spring m for actuating said gearing, means for winding said spring, an escapement mechanism for controlling said winding means, a spring n for actuating said escapement mechanism and means for winding the spring "a by the action of the spring m 2. In a device of the class described, the combination of the web a, the driving roll I), the spring m for actuating said roll, means for locking said spring, means for winding said spring while locked, means for releasing said spring at certain predetermined periods of time, an escapement mechanism to control said locking and releasing of the spring m the spring n to actuate said escapement mechanism and means for winding the spring n by the action of the spring m 3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a movable web, gearing for moving said web, the spring m for actuating said gearing, an electro magnet for winding the spring m a circuit breaker'to control said electro magnet, an escapement mechanism to control said circuit breaker, a spring 17, to actuate said escapement mechanism, and gearing whereby the spring n is wound by the action of the spring m 4. In a device of the class described, th combination of a movable web, gearing for moving said web, the spring m for actuating said gearing, means for winding the spring m an escapement mechanism for controlling said winding means, the spring n for actuating said escapement mechanism and means for winding the spring n substantially as described.

5. In 'a device of the class described the combination of the web a, the driving roll I), gearing for'moving and reversing the direction of motion of the roll I), the spring m for actuating said gearing, an electro magnet for winding the spring m an escapement mechanism for controlling said electro magnet, the spring n for actuating said escapement mechanism and means for winding the spring n substantially as described.

6. Ina device for displaying advertise ments, the combination of the web a, the driving roll I); gearing for actuating said roll, the spring m for actuating said gearing, an electromagnet for winding said spring M, an escapement mechanism for controlling said magnet, the spring a for actuating said escapement and means for winding said spring a substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EVERETT M. LOW.

Witnesses:

MARY E. WOOD, JAMES H. Woon. 

